


I hate you, I love you

by straightouttapopstar



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Fluff, Hatred, Kamui is a little sweetie!!!, M/M, Niles is really serious but still suggestive, Niles' pov, Tension, from 0 to 100 real fast, implied leo/niles - Freeform, kamuzero, the boy will nurse the outlaw back to health even if it costs him his life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-26
Updated: 2017-06-26
Packaged: 2018-11-19 02:26:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,482
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11303826
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/straightouttapopstar/pseuds/straightouttapopstar
Summary: Niles was tasked with murdering the Hoshidan prince, and he knew he would do so gladly.Little did he know that his own heart would prevent him from doing exactly that.





	I hate you, I love you

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first Fire Emblem work and I'm super stressed :'0 I haven't even finished the games yet and I'm writing this oops  
> But honestly I've fallen in love with kamuzero so much I don't need to finish the game to get some sort of feel for them  
> They are like the cutest ship ever I'm not even joking  
> So here we go, I tried my best with this. I read Niles' wiki page at least five times before attempting this, and to be fair, I don't think it's that bad  
> Like always, I appreciate feedback and kudos too!! I hope to write more fics for this ship or FE in general in the future :0  
> Please enjoy!!  
> (leoniles is also amazing please consider it)  
> (also I love Niles' localization name but Corrin's not so much..so I wrote about him as Kamui)

It was all his fault.

If I were to guess what would turn an entire kingdom on its head, I would bet on a huge war, a tsunami, perhaps even the end of the world as we know it - not the selfish choice of a cowardly boy.

I had not seen him often when he had been growing up in Nohr - due to, fortunately, bearing the job of being Prince Leo's retainer, I had been occupied at most, only catching his glance ever so often. Rumours echoed he had been locked up in the Northern Fortress, and that may have made me pity the boy in the most shameful way possible. 

However, despite leading a solitary life of looking out of his cold, sombre window, he was still subject to comforts I had never known for as long as I had existed. He had a wonderful and caring family, and never experienced hunger or thirst or the lack of a roof over his head. He never yearned for anyone's acceptance whilst struggling to find a single shining coin amongst the rubble of dirty streets - he was not obliged to fend for himself when all that surrounded him was bleak and unknown. The draconic boy had been surrounded with warmth of a good home since the moment he took his first breath. However much pity I tried to muster for the boy's situation, only terrible hatred began to dawn on me. 

Because, whatever his situation had been, he had been raised in luxurious conditions which he did not deserve. And I detested that fact with every inch of my being. So it did not come to me as a surprise that, when I was proposed to assassinate the young traitor, a wide smirk had surfaced on my lips.

One unsettlingly calm night, I had been summoned by Lord Leo to his half-lit chamber - opening the silent door, all I could hear was the scratch of feather on paper. Lord Leo was supposedly staying up rather too long to fulfil his usual princely duties, and it did not go far without saying that I felt rather concerned for him.

Once he noticed my imposing figure lurking above him, he carefully placed the quill inside the ink bottle, and tilted his head to look at me. Immediately, I noticed those frightening bags under his eyes, as well as his semi-closed eyes. Before he had a chance to open his lips, I uttered, "Milord, if you desired me to keep you company in bed tonight, you should have given me at least a day's notice."

Surprisingly, he did not look pleased at all due to my remark - one would have said Lord Leo had grown annoyed of my antics, but I knew better than that. His fatigue had just been getting to him, and he looked like he had lost pleasure in just about everything in the last few days. During training, he had been growing weary at record speed, and out of the corner of my eye, I always caught him catching a few z's at war planning meetings - as a retainer, I wasn't being unnecessarily observative. As not just a retainer, but a close friend and companion (not only between the sheets), I did feel pity for the overworked man.

During a particularly long but adorable yawn, I managed to drape a blanket around Lord Leo's shoulders and this warmth gave his eyes a very glassy but appreciative quality. He smiled at me.

"Niles, thank you. Although, that is not why I have called you here."

I pretended to roll my eyes in disappointment before kneeling down at my Lord's feet and looking up at his face. I enclosed one of his hands in mine very gently as to not startle him.

"Why have you sent for me, then, Milord? I shall do anything for you - I am all ears."

Lord Leo attempted to hide his smile at my words, but failed to do so, instead letting me see him grin in a half-awake daze.

"Actually, there is something I would like you to do for me...you see, I do suppose you remember my dear older brother? Perhaps the name 'Kamui' rings a bell?"

My grip on his hand immediately tensed, but that gesture went unnoticed around the usually alert prince. He simply continued speaking about the subject as if he had not just pronounced the name of the disgusting man who had betrayed him and his entire kingdom.

"Well, if you do remember who Kamui is, then I do have an assignment for you--"

"What is it."

Lord Leo suddenly glanced at me with his eyes fully open from shock, most likely due to the potent venom contained within my words when the prince had been mentioned. Lord Leo did not know, nor did he understand my personal hatred I bore for the boy - he thought I only hated him because he had betrayed my Milord. I was not a simple man as that - the hatred ran much deeper into the soil of trust that had been stained so irreversibly.

Despite the disturbance, he continued, attempting to seem unmoved by what I said.

"Your task is to, simply put, sneak into the Hoshidan camps that have been strewn around in a field near Cyrkensia and kill the prince."

'Kill the prince'. This small phrase was all I needed to send my mind into an infintely long chain of planning the event. I had been grazing my fingers on the sharp edges of my arrows for years, waiting in silence for this moment to arrive one day. Waiting to obtain the honour and trust of the prince to completely slaughter the little privileged liar who sent the entire continent into disarray and chaos. I knew I would have taken full pleasure in the act.

First off, I had been debating whether to be open about the assault and ceremoniously strike him with my best bow - or, maybe use a small but effective dagger and make his death painless. With my rather sadistic senses readying for such occasion, I decided to spare him the quick death, and preferred to torture him for everything he had done to Nohr. I wanted him to suffer the consequences of his decision, as well as suffer proportionately to his cookie-cutter life. I wanted his death to be the moment during which he could be able to feel the entire concentrated pain of my childhood in one blow as well as the abhorrence that had been building up within me like a castle of a hundred floors for centuries. 

I would make sure he felt pain, and I would laugh. I would laugh so loud the rest of the camp would hear me, perhaps even execute me - but I would still be glad that the traitor fell at my blade.

I didn't spare Lord Leo any pleasantries - having heard all I needed to hear, I gently pulled his hand to my lips and kissed it. Arching my eyes upwards, I was able to see a flush echo around the halls of his cheeks, but I did not wait for his reply. The warmth of his hand left mine and I headed towards his bedroom window, looking out into the night.

"Before I depart - any wishes you would like to bestow upon your knight in shining armour?"

I didn't hear Lord Leo stir, save for a single phrase - "be safe, Niles."

Clenching my fists around my bow, I promptly jumped out of the open window and fled into the shadows of the disconcerting darkness.

The trek had not been long - it was not accompanied with anything particularly interesting, save for murderous thoughts piling up in my head like a stack of divorce papers. I was planning it for so long, and thus it had to be absolutely perfect. No one would disturb me on the way to eliminating this...this disgusting bastard. His life was going to end there and then.

That is, if I were just as smart as I were creative at thinking of a hundred ways to inflict pain on human beings.

You see, when I finally entered the Hoshidan camp, I was surprised to find it unguarded, which felt very weird. I was expecting them to throw me off balance, maybe distract me before finally striking me down to my grave, but none of such thing happened at all. I knew I had the upper hand once I stepped closer to the tents and saw two retainers - presumably Kagero and Saizo, names I had heard of from various sources - dozing off next to each other whilst sitting down. I uttered a quiet giggle - if I had some ink, perhaps, I would have drawn some rather suggestive figures on their faces, or if I were not occupied enough, I would have put them both in a very regrettable position. Of course, I was so plagued by those entertaining thoughts of mocking a few inattentive Hoshidans, I did not notice a stray tent peg stuck in the ground in front of my feet. Actually, I had been so distracted, I did not attempt to even avoid it.

And when my shoe caught in the peg's hook - well, any stupid person can deduce what happened next.

Upon crashing into the muddy grass, I began to panic - I knew I had caused some sort of noise, and I was very close from being found out, so I tried to quickly stand up and flee - the keyword here is try. Just because I tried doesn't mean I succeeded.

As I was erratically trying to unhook the edge of my shoe from the peg, I heard someone in one of the tents stir - my breath had caught in my throat and I knew I had almost failed the mission at that point. My fingers sped up, untangling the material from the metal - suddenly, I heard steps heading towards me and I looked in the direction of the blocked moonlight.

There stood my target. In all his unfaithful glory, stood Prince Kamui. 

There was no hope for me - I did not know the man in detail, but from Nohrian rumours, it was obvious the boy had been one tough cookie. Sometimes the gossip went from him striking Xander with his Yato, to him challenging Xander to a full-blown fight, to Kamui almost slaughtering the Nohrian soon-to-be-king. At that moment, all these loud remarks from servants began flooding my mind, and the situation gained several degrees of fright and fear of the foreign royal standing just a step away.

I was supposing he was fully armed, probably clutching his Yato just behind his nicely-shaped-- no, scratch that, killer legs. He towered in front of the moon like some sort of celebrated religious symbol, every inch of his young body illuminated by specks of moonlight. He seemed to be donning his luminescent armour despite the sun being gone and hiding until next day - I insinuated that it was so due to his attachment with the personal piece of metal clothing. It could have also been because he had been waiting for intruders all night, readying to murder anyone who just about sets foot in the peaceful camp. His body may have looked quite delicate and feeble, but looking up, all I could catch sight of was a mighty masculine form with a formidable stare of iron - his scarlet eyes were boring into my one with almost frightening intensity.

If I were to ever be murdered by someone, then yes - I would let this man do the job. I just really couldn't believe that this was the man that betrayed half of the continent, sending everyone into a crazed state. This, rather striking, young man was the source of all current woe in Nohr and I could not believe my own eyes. Perhaps they had been lying to me from the very first second they became hypnotised by his own red ones - I was absolutely entranced and did not have the strength to bring out my bow. My hand was gripping it so hard I felt all blood draining from my hands right to my face like a deadly water current - I had been speechless.

I saw the man's brows furrow, and he promptly held out his hand, whispering -

"Are you hurt?"

I replied with an overconfident smirk.

"No, I am not, young man - although I could ask you the same question, as your visage and body are both of such heavenly quality - perhaps you had hurt yourself when you fell from Heaven."

I guffawed once I spotted a flush on his face that I had been anticipating for so long. He seemed so shocked to be flirting with some stranger in the middle of the night, not knowing that I had been sent to murder him. I pushed down all the knots of guilt, and continued to savour the moment, as well as the man's alluring blush.

"O-Oh no, I see that you have indeed been hurt! Look at your knee...you have bruised it! I shall take you to my tent and fix you straight away."

He pointed at my bleeding knee, but I shrugged his proposition away. I was about to make my way towards the exit of the camp, before his hand pulled me forward and he quickly led me into his tent. I attempted to pull away but to no avail - his hands had been so soft and innocent, I couldn't dare let them go.

Once he left me on his little bed roll, I felt his warm hand leave mine and I suddenly felt freezing in the middle of the night. I began to rub my hands together, hopefully trying to create some sort of friction to heat my body up. He seemed to be busying with some first aid box - his expression was a mixture between worry and great excitement, probably because he was so keen to help me get better. When he turned around, his left hand was enclosed around a bandage and his right held a bottle of antiseptic. I shivered. I absolutely hated antiseptic - it may come off as terrible foolish, but I hated the searing pain that resulted from applying antiseptic to wounds - despite being told to, I never did it. And I wouldn't allow him to do it now either.

He kneeled down in front of me, and my lips curved into a smirk. Immediately, he leaned down to inspect my knee, so close that I could smell the scent of his pineapple shampoo still lingering within his hair. I reached down for a strand and wound it around my fingers with a keen grin - he detected my movements and froze in place, my bandage half-wrapped around my knee.

I felt especially daring at that moment, and so I burrowed my face in his air and inhaled the enticing and fruity smell. 

"A-Are you smelling my hair?"

I found his stutter so lovely and innocent, if not more attractive - he seemed like the sort of little powerless prey I frequently struck down with my bow. I decided to lean in more, like an unexperienced ruffian who tasted the thrill of the kill and became addicted straight away. As I envisioned, it was not difficult to make him squirm under my grip, as two seconds into hair-sniffing and he moved his head away with heavy fright flowing in his irises. He looked quite eager to turn tail and run from me, but do you really think I'd allow that?

"Can you p-please stop doing this? I am trying to help you here, and your...bizarre behaviour is not aiding me."

I heard a hint of threat in his feeble voice, although it took me all my willpower to not start laughing. His attempts at appearing strong and mighty did not go unnoticed, but they did not suit him in the slightest. I could clearly observe that he was shivering, the bandage waving in the air and his brows were furrowed in worry. Dare I say he looked absolutely delicious cowering in the spot - he did not try to shield himself with his sword and hands, which I took as especially exposing. I had never in my life slept with someone so unaware of what I was capable of.

I decided to drop his gaze and let him focus on the fun he had had with patching up my injury - I faintly heard him nervously let out a breath he did not know he had been holding, and he continued his job. The rest of the operation went forward in total silence.

Once he finished the job, his entire face seemed to have lit up with the power of a thousand suns - so bright it could blind me, so luminous that I wanted to be blinded. Hell, he could have broken each of my limbs, one by one, and I would have thought of it as a gift from the Gods.

He pat my wrapped-up knee and stood up excitedly, clapping his hands in ecstasy.

"Alright darling! I have fixed you up! Apologies if it took me so long...Sakura always heals people who have fallen on the battlefield, never sparing me a single casualty. And the truth is that, I really like helping people. That's why I had a lot of fun aiding you as well!"

"...Did you just call me darling?"

Kamui's mental swears were so vocal, I thought I was able to hear them - I imagined that he was one of those unique people who swore with words like 'fiddlesticks' or 'gosh'. It just seemed so fitting for him and his character - I was so absorbed in thoughts of his mind I did not realize when my lips curved into a predatory smile, aimed in his direction. He seemed very shaken by my facial expression.

"W-Why are you smiling at me like this?"

"...I was just thinking about a few more fitting names that I could make you employ in bed, if you don't mind."

Suddenly, Kamui's unsure grimace reverted to a vexed pout, and in five seconds I had been pushed out of the tent by his surprisingly strong hands.

The night had been freezing, but I wasn't the one to let my discomfort show - on the other hand, the prince was shaking from the low temperature. I quickly unpinned my cape and draped it around his cold shoulders, which elicited a thankful smile from the boy. I was ready to flee towards Nohr when I heard him clear his throat. A look at him was all that was needed for a completely new blush to adorn his cheeks.

"Mysterious stranger, when will you be back?"

"So you can patch me up again?"

The boy nodded abashedly. I did not think of our infatuation so heavily - but if the boy did, then so be it. I was not about to refuse service to an another prince - it would deem me to unhonourable to do so.

"Do you want me to come back?"

"Y-Yes! Despite your strange mannerisms, I've never met a man like you before and...I really want to get to know you better."

Promptly, I gave him a knowing smile.

"Sure, Kamui. Just call me and I'll be at your side in an instant."

I moved closer to him to give his face a final but very affectionate lick before dashing in the direction of the morning sun.

When I climbed up Lord Leo's window, he woke up for a second and noticed something amiss.

"Niles? Where is your cape?"

I don't think I need to tell you this, but I was amazing at telling lies.

"Oh you know, I sort of went to the camp...and then changed my mind, and suddenly I found myself at the doorstep of some brothel. Little did I know that this was going to be a fun night--"

Milord did not let me finish before pulling me to his side on the bed and placing his head on my chest, and wrapping around me like a hungry animal.

"Look, Niles...it's four in the morning, and quite frankly, I do not know what you want, but I would like to go to sleep with you in my arms."

"Alright, Prince--"

"So please gently shut up and do not speak for the next hour. Do you think you could be able to manage that, dear Niles?"

I pretended to consider it for a few moments.

"More than manage it."

"That's splendid. Goodnight, Niles."

"Goodnight, my sweet prince."

But little did he know that that response had been unheard by the one it was aimed at - the silvery-haired boy who had been snoring away in his little camp on the other side of the continent, dreaming of dragons, strange men with bows and moonlit nights.


End file.
